you're just as far in as you'll ever be out

holding our own in a great big storm

Este frowned as she listened to the sound of rain pound relentlessly against her roof. The weather was starting to match her mood now. She reluctantly unfurled herself from the ball she rolled into on the couch hours ago and stood up, stretching her arms high above her head to relieve her aching back. Not even the amusing escapades of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills could deter her from everything that was happening.

She had barely seen both of her sisters the past week. Danielle was getting grumpier and grumpier while Alana refused to leave the confines of her bedroom (well, Danielle's guest room). Things were worsening by the day.

Hopefully eating copious amounts of pasta would take her mind off things. She stood aimlessly over the pot of boiling water and impatiently drummed her fingers on the side of the stove, pouring in nearly half the box when it was finally hot enough.

Just as she drained the pasta into the colander, Danielle came bursting through the front door, dripping rainwater all over the foyer. Este watched in bemusement as her sister wrung out her hair and kicked off her boots, sashaying over with a huge grin on her face.

"Hi!"

Este looked at her sister skeptically. "Hi? Are you drunk? It's not even five yet."

"No," Danielle said in her own defense. "I have news."

"Good or bad?"

"Good!" Danielle titled her head to the side in contemplation. "Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it."

"And how am I going to look at it?" Este questioned, her concern growing when Danielle began to laugh nervously.

"Wellll," the younger girl began, obviously stalling. "Jenny Lewis called. Her guitarist got some weird disease...it's like Ebola but not as serious...and he's gonna be unable to tour for like three weeks. So she asked if I wanted to..."

"Uh huh..."

"Sooo," Danielle continued, biting her lip when Este's facial expression seemed to be stuck in "no way" mode. "It will just be like five shows. I'll be back by the end of the month."

Este reluctantly pushed her bowl of pasta aside. "Are you kidding me?"

"N-no," Danielle responded shyly. "I have the voicemail still. Do you want to listen?"

"Stop," Este commanded when Danielle reached for her phone. She watched her sister stand a little taller, like she knew a lecture was coming. "Danielle, you can't go. Not when things are like this."

Danielle flinched. "Like what?" she dared to ask. "It's not like we've got much going on here. I won't be missing anything."

"Are you kidding?" Este repeated again, this time her voice an octave higher. She was satisfied when Danielle closed her eyes and covered her ears. "I'm going to smack you in a second."

Now Danielle was getting angry. "What do you want me to do? Sit at home and twiddle my thumbs like I've been doing since we've gotten back from tour? I'm going insane, E."

"Have you even talked to Alana?"

"No," Danielle mumbled, staring at her feet. "It's kinda hard to talk to someone through a closed door."

"Have you even tried opening it?"

"Shut up," Danielle finally snapped in annoyance. "You can come over and deal with our sister. She can come live with you! How does that sound?"

Este sighed and watched the rain trickle down the small window in her kitchen. "Fine, D. Go. Go have fun and run away from your problems like you always do."